[ramvid01]

Originally Posted by honte

I've heard people say that about Trump, but frankly, I don't understand that argument. In fact, I understand that Trump was also supposed to be steel, but they switched simply because the price of steel went up beyond their projections. However, I am certainly not an authority on high-rise engineering, so any corrections are welcome.

There is usually an equation that you have to balance between the price of steel and the added labor / time required to erect a concrete frame.

If Waterview were to be a steel frame, it almost certainly still would have had a composite deck and concrete core for lateral stability, just as the current proposal has. But I think it would have been perfectly possible in steel. There may have been bracing in undesirable places, however, or large members associated with moment frames.

Sam, the proposal I am referring to was the 80-story that was planned on Monroe just off Michigan.

The idea is, the taller you build the more space you must devote to structural components. You also need to make the building wider for a tower of that height, so they used concrete which requires less space, and can produce a thinner building at that same height.